Simplification is Our Innovation

Space-Qualified Switch

29
April 2019

At Radiall, Simplification is our Innovation.

SELECTOR is a consortium of four companies in the space industry: Radiall, Thales Alenia Space (TAS), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and CSEM. Their objective is to develop a new Miniature Electro-Mechanical Relay (MEMR), a high miniaturization, SMT-compatible, electro-mechanical switch for the space sector.

  • The new MEMR will be based off Radiall's existing Quartz product line, which will be expanded to reach the space market
  • TAS will design compact redundancy rings based on SMT
  • CSEM will be involved in the characterization and quality assurance
  • UPV will bring its simulation expertise to designers

MEMR can be used within reconfigurable microwave space subsystems in line with satellite evolution toward more digital satellites, which allow high-data capacity. Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS) is the solution to decrease the cost per bit (€/Gbps) of satellite telecommunications. The satellite payload is constituted of a digital core and the digital transparent processor (DTP), which is surrounded by frequency converter units. The number of frequency converter channels in VHTS systems has increased from a few dozens of equipment to several hundred, compared to standard satellite architecture. As a result, in order to remain competitive without compromising reliability, stronger cost and mass constraints are enforced on such equipment.

Read more about SELECTOR consortium's objectives